China PC sales shrink in Q2

HONG KONG: The forecast comes in sharp contrast to the firm's previous estimate of 11 percent year-on-year growth for PC sales in one of the world's largest and fastest growing PC markets.

IDC analyst Kitty Fok blamed the major downward revision on the flu-like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which has changed consumer behaviour. "PC sales are not likely to be great when people are afraid of venturing outside of their homes," she said.

IDC has yet to determine the exact extent to which SARS has hurt the PC business, but it is almost certain that the market in the current quarter will shrink, Fok said. A spokeswoman for Legend Group, China's largest PC maker, said on Tuesday it still expected to report year-on-year shipment growth in the second quarter.

Legend's shares are already trading near three-year lows, after IDC said last month the firm's March quarter PC shipments were below expectations -- a sign that the country's PC market might be slowing. The stock was off 2.22 percent at HK$2.20 by the midday break on Tuesday. In the last year through Monday's close, it has lost nearly 34 percent.

The number of new SARS cases in China has dropped sharply in the past week but the World Health Organisation has said Beijing is under-reporting the problem.

© Reuters